Arachnophobia – Part Six
The Battle

Last Time – A New Friend, and New Enemies:

"Oh, yeah. I want a fight. Just give me an excuse," the blonde challenged, his voice dangerously lowered.

The dust settled, leaving Hercules and Iolaus with a clear sight of the robbers and the unconscious woman.

"Iolaus, don't rush into this," the demigod warned.

The hunter's eyes narrowed, sizing up the large group. The band of thieves wasn't as big as everyone said it was. Thirty to forty? Ha! It was more like twenty-five.

"Okay guys, a how 'bout this?" called Iolaus, he pointed to three men, each armed with a quarterstaff and a sword. "You three come at me first, waving your weapons and screaming like banshees. I knock you down (you stay down). Then so on and so forth, hmm?"

The three men he pointed to looked confused.

"Uh, Iolaus?" asked Hercules.

"Hmm?"

"They're just robbers, not war experts. Make it simple for them."

The bandits caught the insult on their intelligence (Oops!) and they were ready to rumble.

Iolaus and Hercules took up a fighting stance. The blonde whirlwind waved them forward, intent on revenge for the crack about his height.

The men ran at them. Iolaus' three, predictably, charged at him, waving their weapons, screaming like banshees.

They spun their weapons over their heads and brought them down, whistling towards the hunter.

But he wasn't there. Somehow he managed to dash behind the trio and knocked them out with a swift kick to the heads.

"Herc!" the blonde shouted.

Iolaus picked up the fallen quarterstaffs and tossed one to the taller man. Then, as the hunter turned to face a few more of the thugs, a fist caught him in the stomach, making him double over and fight for breath. A kick to the back sent him to his knees. Iolaus could see the fist coming, but could do nothing as the nerves in his face signaled distress from the blow.

Dazed for a moment, he was aware of being pulled to his feet. A hand slapped him across the face, jerking him out of his stupor.

The man behind him didn't even see the attack coming when Iolaus kicked backwards, hard, hitting the man in the groin. He groaned, fell to the ground holding himself and curling into the fetal position.

Iolaus, having sympathy pains, muttered a quick apology and went back to fighting. He knocked out two more guys before they turned tail and fled. One of them shouted, "You haven't seen the last of us yet!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Iolaus.

The hunter spun around to see his friend knock out three more thugs at once. Then he looked at Iolaus.

"That was easy," said Hercules.

The blonde shrugged, "I wish we could have saved it 'til after the magistrate though."

"The magistrate! I almost forgot about him!"

Iolaus nodded to show that he had heard then walked over to the unconscious woman that was forgotten in the fight.

"Hey, can you hear me?" he asked gently, kneeling next to her and sitting her up, bracing her on his knee. "C'mon, wake up."

The woman groaned softly as she forced her eyes open. She shrank back as she saw the blurry outline of a man holding her.

"C'mon, let's get her to Freck. It looks like that lip might need stitches," said Hercules, "Can you walk?"

Fear was still evident in her bright green eyes as she nodded.

"It's okay, they won't be coming back anytime soon," said Iolaus, soothingly.

The hunter helped her to her feet. Swaying dangerously, she took a shaking step forward with the two warriors on either side of her.

When they returned to the tavern, Freck was already waiting for them. The heroes explained what happened while the young woman stayed silent.

After a brief examination of the woman, the healer found that the woman did need stitches in her lip. The healer and the warriors led her inside to Iolaus' room. They were about to leave Freck to his work when Iolaus caught the utter terror in the girl's eyes. He couldn't just leave her.

"Herc, I'm gonna stay with her for a while, okay?" Iolaus said, he could see her relax visibly at his words. "Go on to the magistrate's without me and I'll catch up."

Some of her fears were eased by the blonde's statement. The demigod saw that and the somewhat disappointed look on Freck's face.

"Okay, but at least try to make it to the meeting before it's over," said Hercules, rolling his eyes. And with that, he left.

Iolaus closed the door behind his friend, then went back to the bed.

Her expressive emerald green eyes moved him. With her long black curls pulled back, he could clearly see her face. The dark bruise contrasted sharply against her pale skin.

She whimpered softly as Freck came towards her with the threaded needle. Unconsciously, she leaned into Iolaus, much to his surprise. He put an arm around her shoulder protectively, whispering soothing words and hoping to calm her down.

It seemed to work until Freck took another step forward. The girl closed her eyes tightly as the healer stitched the cut on her lip shut.

"I don't know why she's so scared. She's been this way since I could remember."

Iolaus glanced at Freck, then back at the girl.

"What's your name?" he asked gently.

"No use talkin' to her," said the healer, putting the needle and thread back into his bag, "She hasn't really spoken since her parents died. But if it helps, her name's Lauriela."

"Lauriela," the hunter repeated, pushing back to look at her, "Well, Lauriela, my name's Iolaus and if you need anything at all, just come find me, okay."

Lauriela's emerald eyes met Iolaus' sapphire ones. They seemed to be searching them for signs of lies and deceit. Finding none, she gave him a shaky smile and nodded.

The hunter flashed her a brilliant smile and stood up.

"I have to go. Freck'll take good care of you," then, seeing fear fill her eyes again, he added, "Unless you're ready to go home?"

Lauriela nodded quickly and stood up.

"Okay, I'll take you home, then see how Hercules is doing," he thought out loud.

The hunter thanked Freck, who gave Lauriela a packet of herbs to numb the pain on her face and then they left.

Iolaus and Lauriela blinked at the bright sunlight. As they walked, Iolaus started babbling about his and Hercules adventures and how they became friends. Every once in a while, the stories would make her laugh or smile, but she still didn't speak.

"So then I was struck by lightning! Lightning! Can you believe it?" he exclaimed, grinning, "All's I said was that they should build a shrine to Herc and I for saving that village and ZAP! I was just joking."

Lauriela laughed again.

I couldn't believe it! Then, a few months later, Herc lost his memory from being hit over the head while I was judging at a festival. There was an accident at the grape-crushing contest. I think I was purple for weeks!" he continued, "And just as I was getting used to it, it faded, now we're here."

Iolaus was a bit disappointed when he saw a small house appear as they walked down the dusty road.

"Is that your home?" he asked.

Her black curls bounced as she nodded her head vigorously.

Their walking pace seemed to slow down as they reached the door.

"My dear Lady Lauriela, I did indeed enjoy speaking with you, (even if I did do most of the speaking part) and just remember, if you need any help at all, I'll be here for you, okay?"

Lauriela gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and nodded happily.

"Now, I'm afraid I must bid you farewell for now," he said theatrically, bowing and making her laugh again, "Until our next meeting!"

The sun glinted in her shimmering hair as she walked through the door.

The sun? The sun! The hunter looked up at the glowing ball of light quickly, which was almost directly overhead.

"Tartarus! Herc's gonna let me have it now!" he exclaimed. "Ugh! Another lecture about being on time."

With that, the blonde took off running as fast as he could towards the magistrate's office.

TO BE CONTINUED...

NEXT CHAPTER: Couldn't Think of a Name...